Do you think shame and guilt are necessary to keep people in line? Do you think shaming someone is an effective punishment to teach them a lesson? Think of an example in your life or in current events to illustrate your opinion either for or against the effects of shame and guilt on people's behavior.
- Reference the article on shame in the buisness model (What did you think? how do your opinions match with the article's presentaiton of shame?)
I do believe that shame and guilt are necessary to keep people in line. Its a way to keep friendships and families together and to stop fighting but i do believe that it shouldn't be over used because those are strong emotions to constantly play with and its not always good for the person feeling the guilt or shame. But shame is a effective punishment because it makes the person truly sorry and they will think twice before commiting whatever wrong they commited again. Constantly my parants use shame and guilt when I get in trouble they say that they are not mad but disappointed. This makes me feel guilty for my wrong doing and they know that they got me. I am with using shame and guilt as punishment.
ReplyDeleteI think that shame is an effective punishment to teach someone a lesson. By shaming someone, they will feel guilty for the crime that he or she committed and will probably not commit it again. However, it is not always necessary to use shame to keep people in line. Other punishments can be equally effective as long as the accused learns from his or her mistake. For example, fees and rehabilitation can also prevent someone from committing the same crime again. In comparison, shame could lead to poor mental health of the accused, including depression and/or suicide. Although this is not a perfect example, bullying has led to suicides. The person being bullied believes that he or she is "wrong" based on what he or she is being bullied about and suicide is the only way to stop the bullying.
ReplyDeleteI don't necessarily think guilt is needed when punishing someone but it is an effective way to teach someone a lesson. Guilt helps people confess to something they have done and prevent them from doing anything bad at all. My mom guilts me into things all the time. When she wants me to do something she reminds me of a time I disobeyed her and then I feel obligated to doing what she wants or else I would feel guilty. She also guilts me into not doing things by using reverse psychology. For example if I asked to go somewhere and she didn't want me to go she might say, "You can, but I'd really appreciate it if you didn't." which would make me feel guilty if I did go. When my mom uses guilt to punish me, teach me a lesson, or get what she wants it works every time.
ReplyDeleteShame is an effective way to punish a person, however the one inflicting the shame may not be justified. People take others on guilt trips all the time,but the people that use guiilt as a tool should be the shameful ones. For example if i do something bad to my family, they never let me forget it which i think is immoral because both people must move on . If well deserved shame will make someone learn a lesson, but it should not be abused.
ReplyDeleteReminder: Reference the article!! This blog post is meant to be done in conjuction with the article on shame and corporations. Remember to edit for grammar mistakes too, OK?! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article it is apparent that i have the same feeling towards the "scarlet letter" treatment as the people who wrote the article. I agree that by shaming someone, it becomes a very useful tool that works quite well, especially if done publicly. I agree completely that people do not usually learn their lessons if they just pay a fine for what they did wrong, it is sometimes necessary for the person to publicly admit their wrong doing and bear the consequences. On the other hand, this technique can be over used causing the punishment to change from a lesson, to being cruel. The only problem with this method is that by doing so, this could create a situation in which the person is completely ostracized, which would negate the effect of the lesson that is trying to be taught.
ReplyDeleteAfter I read the article, "Companies 'Named and Shamed' For Bad Behavior," I came to the conclusion that by making someone feel shame or guilt is an effective way to punish them. Accorning to Hanielle Yocum, she believes that its a great idea to punish the people by making them feel shame or guilt. She says that they will probably never committ the same crime again. I agree with her theories. When you make someone who committed a crime feel guilty and publically announce it, it makes them think more about what they have done and how to fix it rather than simply paying money to get out of the situation. In many cases this causes the person to be seen as an outcast. As Brady said, this is and is not an effective method. It is okay to make the person feel guilty however if it becomes a large enough issue it may back fire and could result in others feeling guilty for upsetting the other who committed the act.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading "Companies 'Named and Shamed' For Bad Behavior," I agree in the public mea culpas which companies face if they harm the community in some way. If a company has been doing shady deals or downsizing the quality of a community, it takes more than a check to write the wrongs. In fact, making them give a public apology isn't either, but at least the company is being forced to publically acknowledge the situation, and as their business takes a tole, it will surely teach them not to re-write their past. However, when it comes to an individual, I don't believe that public ostracization is an appropriate course of action. To publically humiliate a person will not help them to reform their ways. In fact, in many ways, it may make them to continue to cause trouble. They may feel victimized by society and end up continuing to behave in immoral/illegal ways, or even highten the degree of their crimes. If you want to shame a person, it must be done in a non-public manner. You must do it simply by showing them the consequences of their actions to make sure that they are aware that they have done wrong and not wish to repeat their mistakes
ReplyDeleteShame can be an effective way to punish someone or teach them a lesson, yet they are really only learning their lesson out of embarrasment and not because they understand that what they did was truly wrong. If a person is ashamed of themself, they have learned their lesson and actaully care about and understand that what they did is wrong. Yet if someone else punishes a person by making them feel ashamed, then they are really only learning their lesson because they are embarrassed about others knowing that they did something bad. This wil then cause a person to not do something wrong again, merely because they dont want to be embarrassed or look bad, rather then knowing that what they did was truly wrong. For example in the article it talks about how a ferry company was forced to publish an apology as an ad in a local newspaper after dumping waste into the ocean. This caused this company to not feel bad about the crime they had committed, but just embarrassed about others knowing that they had committed a crime. Overall Shame is not a very effective way to teach a person a lesson or keep them in line, because inorder for a person to know that what they did was wrong they must realize it on their own and not by someone else making them feel guilty through embarrasment.
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ReplyDeleteI believe that shame should not always be implemented as a method of punishment, however, it can be very effective in ensuring that the individual does not repeat their wrongdoing. I feel this way, because, I myself have a very hard time forgiving myself, and guilt tends to drive me crazy. Therefore, I find that guilt when used in combination with punishment can be very powerful.
ReplyDeleteOf course, I have to agree with what Peter said in his post. I do believe that the individual should learn that the reason they shouldn't do something, is that it's wrong, not because they may feel embarrassed and guilty.
After reading the article I found greater support to use guilt as a punishment. I found from the article that companies especially try hard to maintain a good reputation and are unwilling to confess their mistakes. Thus the punishment of guilt is a fair punishment because it tarnishes the company’s reputation after public apology as well as further enforcing the law. Personally I have felt guilty for things I have said or have done and learned from my mistakes mentally as well as apologizing. Going back to the article I honestly think that apologizing is the best way to remain truthful with the customers that companies scammed and is a fair punishment for the crime.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion shame can be a very effective way of punishment. Any (typical) human being is hurt when society turns their back on them. And they have to live with a title their entire life. The article mentions how courts could enforce guilt as a punishment, especially "if its a corporation that hurts the community" pg 2. If the courts were to "put hurt" on a certain corporation/person and it fits the severity of the crime, I believe it is a perfectly fine idea. That corporation/person may not realize the crime they had done until they see first hand reactions of other people its affected. "Whether we call it vengence, whether we call it psychic satisfaction, whether we call it restitution, we are getting at the core of what we as victims can rightfully claim to be entitled to," says Ohio State University law professor Doug Berman. The truth is some people/companies will not be affected by writing a check and this is the fair punishment in some cases.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article, I have come to the conclusion that shame is not a useful tool in keeping people in line. While companies may have apologized for polluting for example, I feel that they apologized for the wrong reason. They apologized for the sake of their corporation, not for actual, personal feelings. In my opinion, shame is more of an emotion, not something that one does to save a company. The article shows no proof that people genuinely felt bad for the laws they broke, therefore, shame was not useful. It was simply the fury of society and the risk of losing a company that influenced the change. If the community had not been upset for the actions th company took, then the company would not have felt guilty, and wouldn't have apologized. In other words, shame is a feeling that one would get regardless of what others think, because it is personal. The companies in the article would not have felt shame if society had not blamed them, proving that shame and guilt are not useful for learning lessons.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article, my original thoughts that guilt and shame are effective punishments, were confirmed. This is because normal punishments such being grounded or having your computer taken away, only make the person upset at whoever punished them. However, if one uses guilt or shame, they become upset with themselves and will be much more likly to do the same thing again. I know from personal experience that this is true. If my parents yell at me when I do something wrong, it usually just ends up in a screaming match and I am only mad at my parents. Also, I am much more likly to do whatever I did again. however, if my parents sit down and calmly say that they are disappointed in my decisions, I am not upset with them, but instead, I am upset with myself and I am much less likly to do whatever I did again. Therefore, i believe that shame and guilt are effective ways of punishment.
ReplyDeleteShame and guilt are not a necessity in keeping people in line. The article stated that some offenders appealed their sentences (shame based punishments) as cruel and unusual but were turned down by the courts. I agree that punishment by shame is cruel and unusual because some people may not feel . Shame is an ineffective punishment because it will anger the offender and emotionally and physically hurt the offender. An example would be the fisherman in the article who had to write an ad saying that shortcuts are not worth it. This ad was the courts way of forcing him to give away his or her reputation and respect. In the constitution people have the right to own property whether it is a tangible or intangible entity. This right that Americans have shows that using shame as a punishment is ineffective, cruel and against the peoples rights.
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ReplyDeleteI think that without guilt and shame, a person is easily able to stray away from task and is able to make terrible decisions freely. If the person was punished and was not subject to some guilt or shame, the person's punishment would be inefective, therefore rendering a punishment with shame useful; doing bodily harm to a person does not break their will nearly as well as making someone regret their actions so much, and the knowledge that they cannot undo what has happened will hurt them. However this punishment may be unusual, as a person could easily outsmart it and take it as a joke. Doing bodily harm will only make the person sorry that they got cought commiting a crime or doing something wrong, but making a person feel guilty and shameful for their actions will produce much more effective results.
ReplyDeleteDepending upon the situation, shame and guilt are effective punishments, however are dangerous when overused. They are effective because guilt targets a person's inner emotions and conscience, which has a longer lasting impression than a physical punishment can have. It is not something that quickly heals, but takes time to overcome. For the same reason, shaming someone can cause one to cause harm to oneself because the regret and guilt he feels is too strong to bear. Regret is a natural human emotion that is almost punishment enough and really does not need to be strengthened by outsiders casting shame. It is a feeling no one likes, therefore one would avoid doing things that cause them to have guilt. In highschool, bullying is the most common example of shame. Other students making somebody feel bad for the way he acts, dresses, talks, etc. when he has done nothing to deserve it. It is a shame with no cause, but is still hurtful to the receptor.
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